After a year-long delay, the new 64-bit Draken for Prepar3D v4 is finally approaching the beta stage. The first beta version will be released sometime next month (June 2019) and the final release is planned for the third quarter of 2019.
Draken 5.0 includes the following improvements and new features:
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- Full compatibility with Prepar3D v4 (64-bit)
- Much improved exterior model
- High resolution (2048 x 2048) exterior textures with improved mapping for easier repainting
- Improved interior textures
- More and better modeled details in the virtual cockpit
- Indvidually dimmable instrument and panel lighting
- Realistic interior lights
- Dynamic landing and taxi lights
- New soundpack with improved interior engine sounds and startup/shutdown sequences
- New sound module for interior sounds
- New configuration module
- …and more
What it is and what it’s not
Draken 5 is designed for Prepar3D v4.x. It will not work with earlier versions of P3D or with any edition of Microsoft Flight Simulator.
Draken for P3D will have a small pricetag, it will not be freeware like the FSX versions. The beta versions can be downloaded for free but will be “watermarked” and have a limited flight time.
Draken is a flight simulation and not a war game. The weapons in this version are modeled but not functional. There are third party solutions that can add fully functional weapons delivery systems to the model.
The 3D model is 15 years old by now and still built in Gmax, so visually it cannot stand up to newer models that are built in 3dsMax using all features in the P3Dv4 SDK. As with all previous versions of Draken, the focus lies on realistic flight characteristics and systems simulation. Remodeling Draken from scratch in 3dsMax is not an option at the moment.
The first beta version will be released within a few weeks. Stay tuned!
/Thomas